great week coming, page-4

Orbis website says they are medium term investors who aim to buy stocks out of fashion and undervalued by the market. 3 to 5 year time horizon.
on todays price the market values CER at about nil.
The AFR carried an article from the WSJ about massive overbuiding happening in the shopping mall market sector and cutbacks by big chains of underperforming outlets so vacancies are rising especially in new developments.
It looks like panic selling.
The newspapers are performing a useful function, but they are very slow off the mark with this one. Exaggeration is the order of the day. Expect some vacancies but they will not be the sort the deveopers of new malls will cop. Many of CERs properties are more local centres-these shoul;d benefit a bit from high fuel prices.
Mark to market by the crazy accountants- I say this as an someone who both studied the theory of accounting and was a professional researcher for the ABS. The new mark to market rules are utterly irresponsible and shortsighted. They were cooked up by people who I do not believe know what they are doing. But it is these rules that are the peril. (I would use a five year moving average or some such, not this weeks price in loonyland)
My expectation is that the banks will relise they will do themselves far more harm by forcing fire sales than riding out the storm-after all, CER's cash flow is sounder than many. As for the banks they will look after themselves, they think-but their track record in past crises shows them to be their own worst enemies en masse.
What will happen? Dont know but at these prices, the odds look good if youy regard it like betting on a horse. The jockey is so so but the horse is a good one.